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As Mouse wasn't likely to set up shop until the Dark Star opened for business that night, they dealt with Garrus's man first. Shepard had reservations about letting her teammate simply shoot his traitorous former associate in cold blood … but this was Garrus, and Garrus would be satisfied with nothing less. She couldn't say she blamed him. If someone she had put trust in were responsible for killing her entire team, she wouldn't be able to rest until he was brought to justice, either. So ultimately she let Garrus take the shot, knowing he knew what the consequences were and would deal with them himself … and that she'd be there to help him through them.

As night fell, they made their way up to the Dark Star, Garrus hanging back to keep an uninvolved eye on the situation. He was still shaken from killing Sidonis, Shepard could tell, even if he would never admit it.

It wasn't too busy outside the club just yet, having only opened half an hour or so ago. Only a few people were milling around. Just as Shepard's attention was arrested by a young man with a datapad, off to the side talking to someone on a comm link, Thane saw him, too.

He stiffened. "Mouse?"

"You know him?" Shepard asked, but too late. Thane was already moving toward him.

"Yeah, sure, I can get you two cases by the end of the day," Mouse was saying into his comm link. Then he saw Thane, and his jaw dropped open. After a moment he managed to collect himself, disconnecting his call. "Shit, Krios, I thought you retired." Behind Thane, he caught sight of Shepard, and his eyes practically bugged out of his head. "Commander Shepard? I thought you died. Damn, Krios, you've gone up in the world."

"I wish I could say the same for you, Mouse."

"Oh. So this isn't a social call." Mouse sighed. "What do you want with me, then?"

"How do you know Thane?" Shepard asked, unable to restrain her curiosity. Thane gave her an unreadable look—sorrow, impatience, not wanting to talk about it, some mix of the three.

"Krios? He didn't—" Mouse looked at Thane, then back at Shepard, and shook his head decisively. "If he didn't tell you nothing I ain't either."

Thane sighed, apparently recognizing that he wasn't going to get out of this without explaining. "When we heard the name, I didn't think it could be the same Mouse. He was a contact on the Citadel when I was active here ten years ago. He and some other children would gather information on my targets."

Shepard nodded. That kind of thing wasn't unusual; often it was one of the easiest and safest ways for kids on the streets to make money. She turned back to Mouse. "We need you to answer some questions."

He looked around, panicked. "Look, the people I work for … I can't answer questions for just anybody."

"But you can for me," Thane said. "You gave another drell instructions for an assassination. I need to know who the target is."

"Oh, that. Should've guessed. Look, Krios, I don't know the target 'cause I didn't ask. The people I work for don't like it when you ask. I'd like to help you—you always done right by us … but I ain't gonna die for you."

Thane sighed, his shoulders slumping. This was too close to his heart for him to be effective.

So Shepard stepped in, getting closer to Mouse, using her commander stance and look to make an impression. She'd learned how to do that a long time ago, with men bigger and tougher than Mouse by far. But she kept her voice soft and her words persuasive, at the same time. "Look, Mouse, you know Thane. You know he wouldn't ask if it weren't important. Do it for him."

Mouse looked at Thane, clearly torn, then back at Shepard. "I want to, okay? He was always nice to us. But these people ain't nice. Krios, you know these kind of people. You know what they're capable of."

"No one will know you spoke to us," Shepard assured him.

Thane moved closer, looking at Mouse intently. "I swear you won't be harmed."

"Yeah, all right. All right." Mouse put up his hands. "Look, the kid came with that holo you took of me, said he wanted a job. So I ran through your old contacts to see who might give him a shot. The guy who offered was Elias Kelham."

"Kelham," Thane repeated. Having watched him slip into memory several times, Shepard could see him start to do so now and drag himself out with an effort. "Small time." He said it with relief.

"Not anymore he ain't," Mouse corrected. "He got big after the geth attack. Lots of the big guys from before got cacked in their fancy apartments up on the Presidium." He laughed. "Served 'em right, too, forgettin' where they come from. Anyway, Kelham runs the rackets on the lower ends of the ward these days. He's seriously bad news."

Shepard frowned. "And he's hiring rookies?"

"The rookie's related to Krios. I thought you sent him, wanted him to make his way on his own but with your approval. That's why I sent him on. He had that holo," Mouse repeated.

"I understand," Thane told him.

"You did good, Mouse," Shepard said.

"Oh, yeah, if I live long enough I'll pat myself on the back."

As she was about to move away from Mouse, Shepard thought better of it and turned back to him. "One other thing."

"What now?"

"That Shepard VI you're selling."

His eyes went wide. "You heard about that? Look, Shepard, you were dead. Everybody said you were dead! It was totally legal to make a VI of you."

"Well, I'm not dead anymore. Got me?"

"Oh, sure, you got it. Totally with you on that! Consider them gone."

"Good." Shepard glared at him a moment longer to be certain she'd made her point, then joined Thane, who was standing alone near an advertisement kiosk. She leaned toward him to be heard above the ad. "That couldn't have been easy."

He shook his head. "Mouse knew more about my life than Kolyat ever did." He lifted his head, the purple and pink lights from the club making his skin shimmer in their colors, and lost himself in memory. "He smiles at me, broken teeth and scabby knees, bare feet black, a dead end future, looking up at me worshipping the petty gifts I offer." Thane blinked the memory back. "I was the only good thing he had back then—but I left him, as I left Kolyat."

"You took a holo of him? I thought you had perfect memory."

"I do. I can perfectly recall every moment I spent with Mouse. The holo was a … foolish bit of sentimentality." The memory overtook him again, and he whispered, "He pulls at my arm, smiles. He wants to know that I will remember him—that anyone will remember him. I take the holo. He smiles at himself in miniature on my palm. Then a frown creases his brow. He pats my pockets looking for other holos. 'Where's your son, Krios?' he asks." Self-disgust twisted Thane's full lips. "If only I'd had an answer, then or ever."

Shepard hated to see him torment himself so. Something in his pain pulled at her; she wanted to take him in her arms and comfort him, but there were so many problems with that impulse she shoved it away. "Don't blame yourself," she said instead, knowing the words were lame and wrong and inadequate the moment they left her mouth.

Thane looked her full in the eyes. "If I don't, who will? The blame is mine, after all. I was the husband, the father, and I abandoned my responsibilities in the name of my body's calling." He shook his head slowly, emphasizing his disagreement with her attempt at comfort. "We all carry the weight of our decisions, Shepard. You of all people know this."

She nodded. She did know. She had been foolish to think she could wipe away his burdens and his guilt with a few ill-chosen words. "We should get back to Bailey," she said instead, "find out what he knows about Kelham."

They rejoined Garrus and went back down to the C-Sec offices. Bailey greeted them with curiosity and concern. "Did you get the name of the guy Mouse is working with?"

Shepard nodded. "Elias Kelham."

Bailey pushed his chair back, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Kelham. Shit."

"Something the matter?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah … look, this is awkward. Kelham and I have an agreement. He doesn't cause too much trouble and buys tickets to the 'C-Sec charity ball' from me, and in return, I ignore him." Bailey used actual air quotes for the charity ball.

"I get it," Garrus told him. "You do what you have to do to keep the peace and keep more people from getting hurt. Will you help us with this anyway?"

Bailey nodded, albeit reluctantly. "I'll get some of my people to bring him in and set him up in a private room while you interrogate him. I'll stay out of sight and with any luck Kelham will believe I had nothing to do with it."

"Bring him in," Shepard said. "We may not have much time."

"Wait here." Bailey got up and went to talk to another C-Sec officer standing nearby. They conferred for a few moments, and then the officer left. She and two other officers came back in twenty minutes, leading a very unhappy man in a very expensive suit. They took him into a holding cell and emerged several minutes later, looking winded and not very happy themselves. The original officer gave Bailey a nod. Bailey turned to Shepard. "He's going to expect me to get him out of this."

"Fortunately for both of us, the Council reinstated my Spectre status. You can't really say no to me if I insist on something. Your hands are clean."

Before Bailey could answer, his comm link crackled to life on his collar. "Captain, his lawyer's here. Bet Elias has his VI set to page him if C-Sec gets within ten meters of him."

"Damn," Bailey swore. "I'll stall him, but you'd better work fast."

"We should question him together," Thane said. "Keep the pressure on."

"You really think it's wise to let you in an interrogation room right now?" Shepard asked him. "Let Garrus and me handle it. We know what we're doing." Thane looked displeased with the idea, and she put a hand on his arm, squeezing it lightly. "Trust us. We're not going to let you down."

He hesitated, but at last he nodded. "Go. And thank you."

"You good cop or bad cop?" Garrus asked.

"If I had a credit chit on me, I'd flip you for it."

"Come on, I'm so good at it."

"Yeah, but I always have to be the nice one."

They looked at each other, and at last Garrus sighed. "All right, but only because you asked so nicely."

"I didn't."

"For you, that was nice."

"Hey!"

Garrus chuckled, preceding her into the room. "What seems to be the problem today, Mr. Kelham?"

"Yeah, this is all very funny, bringing me down here. Bailey better be getting me out of here soon." Kelham frowned up at Garrus and at Shepard behind him. "Who the hell are you two?"

"So this is the way this is going to go," Shepard told him. "I ask a question, you answer a question. And then you sit there and pray I liked the answer."

"Who the fuck do you think you are, bitch? Bailey's gonna have to do some goddamned big favors to make up for this."

"It's cute that you think you're still working with Bailey," Shepard told him.

"Now, Mr. Kelham, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. Why don't you answer the questions peacefully and then we can all go home," Garrus suggested.

"I'm not saying a damn word until my advocate gets here. You two are in way over your heads. Bailey won't let you touch me."

"Bailey doesn't let me do anything," Shepard said. "I do what I want."

"Look, this is all off the record," Garrus assured him. "No criminal charges will be brought against you."

"Damn right, they won't!"

"Do you know who I am? The name's Shepard. Yeah, that Shepard. Blown up and lived to tell about it. You really think I care if your mouthpiece is in here? All I want is to catch an assassin—why should you stick your neck out and risk trouble with me just for him?"

Kelham looked unimpressed by the revelation of her identity. She wasn't sure it had even registered—or if, having been at the mercy of 'bad cop' before, he simply didn't believe her. "You want me to confess to putting a contract out on someone? You think I'm that fucking stupid?"

"I think that's the smartest thing you could do right now. I get the name, I walk out of here, you never see me again."

"I've got no reason to believe you."

"You've got no reason not to," Garrus pointed out.

"Look," Kelham snapped, "are we done here? Because I've got people to see, and this is a goddamned waste of my time."

Shepard could practically feel Thane's worry coming through the one-way mirror. They were going to have to get this done soon; she couldn't risk the lawyer coming in and keeping them from getting the name, or a delay that would seal Kolyat's fate and break Thane's heart. "Yeah? Well, it's a waste of mine, too." She put an arm across Kelham's windpipe and leaned on it, letting him feel the weight. "So give me a name, or I'll cut your balls off and sell 'em to a krogan. Although what self-respecting krogan would want your balls, I don't know." She pressed a little harder, holding it there.

Kelham made signs that he was willing to help. Shepard and Garrus glanced at each other, Garrus nodded, and Shepard eased off, leaving her arm resting against Kelham's throat to maintain the message.

He coughed and spluttered, mostly for show. "Damn it! Fine. Joram Talid—he's a turian running for office in Zakera ward. He messes with legitimate businessmen. I'm gonna stop him."

"Where is the hit taking place?"

When Kelham glared at her, Shepard leaned on him again. "800 blocks," he wheezed. "His apartment."

"Good." Shepard let go and stepped back, just as the door opened and a well-dressed man walked in.

"What's going on here?"

"I want to sue! These people are crazy! They locked me up in here and tortured me."

The lawyer looked at Shepard, who crossed her arms over her chest. "Commander Shepard. Council Spectre."

"Sorry, Elias. There's nothing I can do for you. Spectres are above the law."

"What? What does that mean?"

"I'll tell you on the way back to your place, while you thank your lucky stars she didn't want you dead," the lawyer told him.

Outside, Thane was waiting with Bailey, both of them looking anxious. "Well? Do you have the name?" Thane demanded.

"Joram Talid." Shepard looked at Bailey. "Do you know him?"

"Yeah. You might have seen his posters around—he's promising to end organized crime in the ward. Thing is, his message is all mixed up in race politics. He's anti-human."

"Really." Neither of her non-human companions seemed surprised by this, and Shepard supposed she wasn't either. "Violent human upstarts messing things up for the rest of the peaceful population of the galaxy?"

Bailey acknowledged the sarcasm but went on to add, "Can you blame 'em? Look what's happened since the geth attack: a human fleet guarding the station for months, C-Sec filled with humans … Anderson does what he can, but some of these people have lived on this station since before humans had starships. They see it as a coup, and I'm not so sure they're wrong."

"Well, if a majority votes for him, I guess we'll have to deal with his attitude then." Shepard couldn't do anything about the prevailing suspicion of humans—that was above her skill level. The best she could do was save the galaxy, again, and see if it helped. Not that it had done that much good the first time, but maybe second time was the charm.

"That's a nice ideal, Shepard," Bailey told her. He beckoned to a passing officer. "Get a patrol car. These people need to get to the 800 blocks." Turning to Thane, he added, "Good luck."

Thane gave him a distracted nod, too concerned to speak, and they got into the car.